A Baseball Dream Born on the Plateau: Pelden Pema Returns to Teach Local Children

Dragon Media News Desk

Pelden Pema, 29, from the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in China’s Qinghai Province, teaches baseball to children in his home region. Raised in a pastoral community about 3,000 metres above sea level, he pursued the sport as a player before returning home after his studies to become a teacher.

Pema encountered baseball by chance during a childhood spent in a community centred on livestock herding. Training facilities and equipment on the plateau were limited at the time. Through sustained practice, he earned a scholarship in 2009 and left his home region for professional training.

Continuing his education alongside the sport, Pema enrolled at a foreign languages university in Shanghai in 2016. Although he had opportunities to work in the city after graduating, he returned to teach baseball at an ethnic senior secondary school in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Pema has developed a progressive training programme for children. His students have competed in national tournaments, and some have gone on to universities and professional teams. He continues coaching in the hope that more children from the plateau will find new opportunities through sport.